Review: Con Man, Episode 6 – Gum Drop

After prepping with Jerry Lansing in the previous episode, Wray is ready to go all in for Dick Trimmings (Thank you, Con Man, for this gift that keeps on giving.)

Wray arrives to his audition in character, squinty-eyed limp and all, even though it’s not the quickest way to travel. As Wray chats with the other waiting actors, the handsome Australians (because all of them are handsome Australians) reveal that they are actually auditioning for Dick Trimmings, too. (“We’re more of the lovable, everyman type.”)

The rather blunt casting director Cindy (Eliza Dushku) calls for the next audition to an admittedly frosty audience, which, of course, is Wray’s.

This is the part where I wonder if writing this following scene was simply therapy for Tudyk and his co-writers, as it appears to encompass every obnoxious Hollywood-ism possible for his audition turned up to 11. The director Diego Alfonso (Jon Huertas) isn’t actually there (he’s watching over video chat). The only people who are there are marketing and advertising execs and their pre-pubescent social media team. None of them are even remotely interested to watch the audition, except to make comments about his resume. The script reader Sarah (Meryl Hathaway) reads multiple roles and steps on one of Wray’s only two lines while loudly chewing on gum.

Ugh, being an actor can be the worst.

Wray’s exasperation is palpable, and he can’t take it anymore. He loses his composure and just reads the riot act to everyone in the room in a hilarious monologue that only Tudyk can give. He calls out the guy browsing Reddit (“I see you!”), Sarah for getting the lines wrong (“It’s anaphylactic, not anti-phallic!”), and Cindy for not giving him the backup he needed when Sarah was stepping on his lines.

But Diego sees everything on his poor video chat connection: he sees the doctor (“ICU,” “It’s anaphylactic shock!”), the cop (“I just need some backup!”, “Put down the god damn gu[n]!”), and most of the lawyer (“It’s an injustice and I object!”)

Against all odds, it looks like Wray will make a Doctor Cop Lawyer out of his Dick Trimmings.

Rating: B. Tudyk carries the episode, excellently capturing the irritation caused by the audition and nailing the eventual blowout. He captures the comedy in the anger, and pushes it forward through the entire scene.

Notables:

The entire monologue is worth multiple watches, but the Grindr line in particular is priceless.

“He played Cash on Spectrum. It was a big hit.”
“Why have I never heard of it?”
“It’s a ‘cult hit.'”
“Ugh. Ugh.”

Jerry Lansing’s appearance at the end of the episode was wonderfully unexpected. Wray as Blaze Slater and Lansing as Dick Trimmings? I’d watch that show.

Con Man is available for your consumption now exclusively at Comic-Con HQ. All of season 1 is currently available, while season 2 will release 2 episodes per week. The Con Man video game is available on iOS and Android, and the Spectrum comic book is available to download here. All photo credits to Comic-Con HQ.

Written by: Dwight Tejano

Dwight is the founder of Open the Fridge, which he started in 2008 and rebooted in 2010. Due to the nature of early adopting, his bank account is normally empty. He likes to sing in world-renown choruses to forget such things.